The Cyber Microbiome and the Cyber Meta-reality

The Cyber Microbiome and the Cyber Meta-reality Joshua A Sipper Assistant Professor Air Force Cyber College Air University Maxwell AFB, AL, United States Email: joshua.sipper.1@us.af.mil Abstract— The cyber realm as an entity continues to evolve and grow As the Earth and indeed human beings share their chemical/biological physicality with a host of enabling flora and fauna (Earth) and bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and even viruses (humans), the cyber meta-reality (a reality of realities) is growing into a type of non-physical, yet tangible sphere where stripping away or adding to it could have far-reaching ramifications not yet understood The human microbiome has most recently been estimated to outnumber human cells by several orders of magnitude [1] A cyber microbiome has already begun to take shape, characterized by viruses, archived data, dark Web outgrowths, and other symbiotic code and applications that will ostensibly grow rapidly as AI and ML begin to create additional code and data in the future While the cyber microbiome may not be, in some cases, considered a direct part of the created domain we experience, it certainly must not be stripped away, eradicating the good along with the bad The cyber microbiome is similar to its planetary and human corollaries in that it contains various undetectable components that serve to support its function in difficult to discern ways For instance, the “dark web” is much like the unseen portion of the iceberg under the surface This indicates another way in which the cyber microbiome is so similar to its antecedents; the cyber microbiome is larger than visible cyberspace by many orders of magnitude This paper examines the concept of the cyber meta-reality with an indepth analysis of the cyber microbiome and attempts to correlate the symbiotic relationships of these two entities through an examination of the cyberspace most people encounter and the vast underlying cyberspace of which most are oblivious the shaping and growth of the surface layer of the cyber meta-reality most inhabit This underlying cyber space is similar in many ways to the Earth borne and human related microbiomes that flourish and support both systems respectively The concept of the microbiome has its roots in the earliest theories of Macarthur in 1955 [2] and was later taken up by Savage in 1977 who stated, “In terms of numerical bacterial cells likely outnumber human cells by at least an order of magnitude.” [3] This estimate was later extended by many orders of magnitude following further study This concept usually shocks most people simply because the sheer enormity of microorganisms they suddenly realize inhabit and make up their bodies We are under the impression that we are made up primarily of “human” cells, but this has been proven not only to be a false assumption, but the direct opposite with most of the body we share being made up of the microbiome As scientists and medical professionals recognize, the human microbiome has fundamentally changed how they research and practice medicine Thus, this concept, while new to the formation and constitution of the cyber meta-reality is nevertheless one that must be considered, especially in light of the areas underlying and paralleling the cyberspace most see The “Dark/Deep Web” alone accounts for a vast and overwhelming section of what can be termed the cyber microbiome, followed by malware, living archives, and code that populate the symbiotic Hadean realm we have yet to fully realize In this paper, we will investigate these abysmal realms of the cyber meta-reality as we cross the digital River Styx Keywords- cyber, microbiome, meta-reality, archive, code, malware I INTRODUCTION The cyber meta-reality we currently experience includes several realities being experienced simultaneously From gaming realities, to research realities, to family realities, and even into the darker realities like pornography and cheating Websites, the cyber meta-reality (See Figure 1) continues to grow and deepen, offering escapes, adventures, and resources unimaginable just a couple of decades ago However, what many have not realized is alongside this ever growing cyber meta-reality entity exists another, symbiont; a cyber microbiome (see Figure 2) often unseen, yet integral to Figure Cyber Meta-reality Figure Cyber Microbiome II THE DEEP DARK WEB The “Deep Web” or “Dark Web” as some call it is known to relatively few but connects with and influences many people without them even realizing it While not an illegal space itself, the “Dark Web” is known as a lawless realm leveraged by the dark cyber powers to conduct “Dark Market” activities of a less than savory nature In this Underworld of viruses, Worms, Trojans, malware, ransomware, and a plethora of other malicious code for hire, hackers find community and items for sharing or purchase that may be added to their bag of tricks Botnets can be hired for a mere few hundred dollars or less, passwords are sold on the cheap like crack cocaine, Bitcoin transactions traverse virtual private networks (VPN), further obfuscating the already uber-secure blockchain mechanisms in place And yet, this black cyber Gehenna is more spacious in data and global reach than any government or international enclave in existence “The terms Deep Web, Deep Net, Invisible Web, or Dark Web refer to the content on the World Wide Web that is not indexed by standard search engines The deepest layers of the Deep Web, a segment known as the Dark Web, contain content that has been intentionally concealed including illegal and anti-social information” [4] As use of this shadowy enclave continues to grow, more and more capabilities are being created and leveraged The growth of the Dark Web is so rapid that keeping up with its evolution is virtually impossible Some predict “There will be more activity in darknets, more checking and vetting of participants, more use of cryptocurrencies, greater anonymity capabilities in malware, and more attention to encryption and protecting communications and transactions Twitter is becoming a channel of choice; Tor and VPN services are finding increased use” [5] Indeed this deepening of black and gray market transactions has been observed occurring at an alarming rate “A recent study found that 57% of the Dark Web is occupied by illegal content like pornography, illicit finances, drug hubs, weapons trafficking, counterfeit currency, terrorist communication, and much more” [6] This trend is likely to continue as more and more miners of the Dark Web find lucrative enterprises This influx of additional Dark Web tourists and residents will no doubt expand this ever growing dark segment of the cyber microbiome “People are becoming more technically sophisticated; younger generations are using technology on a daily basis in school, learning digital technology at a very early age In the words of one expert, ‘hacking has become little league: everyone starts out early, and spends a lot of time doing it’” [7] Although the Dark Web has become a cyber reality associated with illegal activity and anti-social behavior, it did not begin this way “To access material in the Dark Web, individuals use special software such as TOR (The Onion Router) or I2P (Invisible Internet Project) TOR was initially created by the U.S Naval Research Laboratory as a tool for anonymously communicating online” [8] The fact that TOR, now associated with and widely used by criminals, hackers, and terrorist groups to name a few, was originally created by a legitimate U.S government entity is telling The Dark Web and the bridges to and from it have evolved; morphed from one kind of thing into something entirely different and it continues to grow and change This fact along with the imminent applications of technologies like AI, ML, quantum computing, and nanotech indicate a potential future growth of the Dark Web of astronomical proportions, indicating its continued significance as a fundamental part of the cyber microbiome III MALWARE WITH A LIFE OF ITS OWN What happens when a computer virus, Trojan, Worm, or other type of malware accomplishes its mission? Where does it go? Does it simply self-annihilate or does it live on as a part of the cyber microbiome underlying the cyber metareality? Of course, the answers to these questions usually depend on how the malware was designed and what its purpose is However, these answers are becoming more subjective as the cyber meta-reality continues to change due to hackers’ constantly fluctuating modus operandi and the impending implementation of AI and ML enabled malware that could lead to self-replication and even evolutionary code not yet fathomed These kinds of effects can be seen in what are deemed “poisonous systems” where malware has infected and changed the most integral portions of said system “Poisoned systems are distinct from systems infected with computer viruses, which allow malicious code to transfer to other systems when it meets various conditions through a self-replicating mechanism” [9] The continued spread and replication in this case goes beyond such targeted malware as Stuxnet which had a specific purpose and target and was set to end once that objective had been met Often, malware is also coded in such a fashion as to be easy to catch and defend against through patching and malware signature implementations “[I]f an OCO capability is used against a target, several considerations must be considered First, the capability cannot be used elsewhere globally as an anti-virus company will likely see it and create a signature for it” [10] However, with the growth of malware, itself a persistent portion of the cyber microbiome, patching and signature implementation are becoming more and more difficult “As one industry analyst observed: ‘IT analyst forecasts are unable to keep pace with the dramatic rise in cybercrime, the ransomware epidemic, the refocusing of malware from PCs and laptops to smartphones and mobile devices, the deployment of billions of under-protected Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the legions of hackers-for- hire, and the more sophisticated cyber-attacks launching at businesses, governments, educational institutions, and consumers globally’” [11] Other advances have already been incorporated into malware by hackers who understand the subtleties of signature-based algorithms and patching trends The capabilities associated with advanced malware are concerning, but also fascinating in light of their ability to change, grow, and reproduce, thus adding another layer of complexity to their presence within the cyber meta-reality as a portion of the cyber microbiome “[N]ew security products incorporating ML and AI are easily added to his or her testing cycle The malware is validated against the test matrix, ensuring no tested product detects it” [12] With the continued advancement of AI and ML functions, malware as part of the cyber microbiome will continue to expand and morph in myriad ways IV LIVING ARCHIVES As the cyber meta-reality and cyber microbiome continue to grow and deepen, questions concerning the nature of existence within these spheres arise Ever since the discovery of the double-helix meta-molecule deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was discovered, the fundamental building blocks of life have been understood in terms of an extremely complex computer code that uses information to construct all organic, carbon-based life as we know it This fact has profound application when considering the information environments we traverse daily, perhaps never comprehending the amount of information or how it is growing, changing, being shaped, and shaping us as information constructed entities This confluence of carbon and silicon-based information hybridization can be seen in the experimentation taking place in the life of Finnish artist, engineer, and composer, Erkki Kurenniemi A Belgian art and media group named Constant “foregrounds the digital life of an archive by practicing what it calls an ‘active archive’ Unlike most online archive initiatives Constant places emphasis on the generative and active part of making an archive come alive” [13] This living archive concept is based on recordings captured and archived that catalog and preserve Kurenniemi’s life This odd, but intriguing venture was undertaken by Kurenniemi in an effort to potentially resurrect himself at some point in the future by using this “file/life.” “More precisely, Kurenniemi set out to create an archive of his own life for a possible artificial life resurrection in the future” [14] Archives are seen by many as extensions of who we are individually and culturally The information that makes up our personal and collective existence has now found itself displayed in many cases for the entire world to see With social media and the internet in general, our lives are increasingly becoming an active archive “[T]echnological advances in data collection and data science … allow data to be transferred, stored, organized, and analyzed in an efficient and timely manner” [15] In some cases, this data is being looked at for the purpose of customization of legal norms for individuals, but they are also being increasingly indexed as a means of understanding the most intricate habits and perspectives of singular humans “[N]umerous firms are investing in collecting, organizing, and analyzing data or in creating products, services, and technologies that rely on such data, giving rise to data capitalism” [16] Obviously, by capturing so much data, some information is subject to being misplaced, forgotten, or even put away for specific purposes be they good or evil “Digital cloud storage simplifies our lives by releasing us from dependency on hardware we must manage ourselves But we can get lost in the clouds And a provider may decide, unbeknownst to us, not to archive our data beyond a few years We change computers, we close accounts, time passes, and we lose entire portions of our memory” [17] This loss of information identity leads back to the consideration of the living archive and what it would mean in the case of Kurenniemi if his data were lost, misplaced, or forgotten “As Eugene Thacker has concluded in an overview of these tendencies, our notions of life underwent important changes during these post-war decades: ‘the advances in genetic engineering and artificial life have, in different ways, deconstructed the idea that life is exclusively natural or biological.’ This tendency in the sciences is crucial for understanding Kurenniemi’s idea that an archive of files or information about a life as it is lived can actually also be or become a life form” [18] This has further ramifications in the cyber meta-reality and cyber microbiome as all of the data and metadata associated with such archives lives in multiple places and within an indeterminate timeline One need not look far before seeing the outgrowths of the living archive within the frameworks of the cyber meta-reality and microbiome V CODENSTEIN Code is information As mentioned above, information is the basic, fundamental chemical foundation of life in our physical reality Within the cyber meta-reality and microbiome the same case can be made for an informationbased, ever growing, reproducing, and self-perpetuating existence For centuries, the definition of what makes something alive has been debated Of course, life and intelligent life are different discussions, however from a basic point of view, life is defined as something that consumes, grows, and can reproduce without destroying itself in the process Based on this simple definition, things like fire and viruses existing within our physical space are not considered to be alive since neither can reproduce without effectively destroying themselves However, as an entity, the cyber meta-reality and microbiome, much like the human microbiome (see Figure 3), both appear to consume energy in the form of electrons, grow in information proliferation and extensibility, and reproduce in the formation of additional information enclaves, forms, archives, and code It is the latter of these progeny that seems to be the most prolific and analogous to the life, reproduction, and evolution we encounter as carbon-based life forms Figure Human Microbiome Code is an information-rich, complex series of instructions that is used to create, control, and connect other information together in such a way to allow or make certain events occur Just as animals sometimes unexpected things a la the horse with the mind of its own, sometimes code is observed moving outside of its expected parameters “It can be said that a computer can be both ‘reliable’ (but not infallible) and yet perform functions without the authority or knowledge of the owner or software writer This may be when the code happens to execute in a way, because of a strange or unforeseen conjunction of inputs, which neither the owner nor the writer had imagined” [19] This attribute of the unexpected nature of an information-constructed entity is tantamount to any other form of life behaving unpredictably “Code can be used to create programs that provide insight into the universe, the human body, and efficiencies in transportation, finance, communications, and an almost infinite number of fields The aggregate benefits of code are immense” [20] The immensity of code capability in the hands of a skilled code creator is one thing, but one must also consider the trends and precedents that have been set in programs that create code autonomously “Advanced development environments generate code automatically, although writing software to perform complex functions that works well in all circumstances remains exceedingly difficult and challenging” [21] This is one step closer to the level of code being considered a type of life, but what about the possibility of intelligent life through code expansion and reproduction? “It should be observed that the increasing use of machine-learning systems complicates this issue, because the software code is instructed to make further decisions when running, which increases the complexity In addition, the veridicality of machine-learning systems like neural nets cannot be easily understood or verified” [22] While the autonomous decision-making capabilities of code generators using AI and ML are expanding rapidly, the question of ethical and moral agency may still be far off, if not possible However, what is evident is code as an instrumental entity within the greater cyber meta-reality and microbiome is a category-shattering being on the verge of becoming something much larger and more complex be far-reaching, especially when factoring in AI and ML Ultimately, all of these possibilities come down to code; the type, complexity, and growth of which could literally take on a life of its own Through code that can write more code and learn and advance at rates soon to be enabled by quantum technology, nanotechnology, AI/ML, and any number of nascent capabilities, code will continue to develop through the seminal acts of human beings, potentially taking on a life of its own All of these outgrowths and tectonic shifts only add to the propensity of the cyber microbiome to grow and change into the foreseeable future REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] VI CONCLUSION The cyber microbiome appears to be far more massive than anyone could have guessed In this paper, we have only seen a few contributing areas that make up this symbiotic manifestation of the cyber meta-reality, but even then, the entity itself is enormous and extremely complex As the interconnected cyber sphere continues to grow and change, so too will the Dark Web In this dangerous, information-rich realm, people and machines will continue to create more narrow alleys of malware, code, and data that will potentially take on any number of byzantine existences Malware that exists now and has been proliferated throughout systems will likely become smarter and more versatile, leaping into a new and more autonomous kind of existence that may grow into any number of malicious or potentially helpful expressions As living archives continue to develop and evolve, the potential for advancement within this kind of file/life could [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] N Fierer, S Ferrenberg, G Flores, A González, J Kueneman, T Legg, R Lynch, D McDonald, J Mihaljevic, S O'Neill., M Rhodes, S Song, and W Walters, “From Animalcules to an Ecosystem: Application of Ecological Concepts to the Human Microbiome,” Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Vol 43, pp 137-155, 2012 R Macarthur 1955 “Fluctuations of animal populations, and a measure of community stability,” Ecology, 36:533- 536, 1955 D Savage, “Microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract,” Annual Review Microbiology, 31:107-33, 1977 G Weimann, “Terrorist Migration to the Dark Web,” Perspectives on Terrorism (June 2016), Vol 10, No 3, pp 4044, 2016 L Ablon, M Libicki, and A Golay, “Projections and Predictions for the Black Market,” RAND Corporation, 2014 G Weimann, “Terrorist Migration to the Dark Web,” Perspectives on Terrorism (June 2016), Vol 10, No 3, pp 4044, 2016 L Ablon, M Libicki, and A Golay, “Projections and Predictions for the Black Market,” RAND Corporation, 2014 G Weimann, “Terrorist Migration to the Dark Web,” Perspectives on Terrorism (June 2016), Vol 10, No 3, pp 4044, 2016 R Stevens and J, Biller 2018 “Offensive Digital Countermeasures: Exploring the Implications for Governments,” The Cyber Defense Review (FALL 2018), Vol 3, No 3, pp 93-114, 2018 M Klipstein, “Seeing is Believing,” The Cyber Defense Review (SPRING 2019), Vol 4, No 1, pp 85-106, 2019 C Downes, “Strategic Blind–Spots on Cyber Threats, Vectors and Campaigns,” The Cyber Defense Review (SPRING 2018), Vol 3, No 1, pp 79-104, 2018 B Bort, “There IS No Cyber Defense,” The Cyber Defense Review (SPRING 2018), Vol 3, No 1, pp 41-46, 2018 E Røssaak, FileLife: Constant, Kurenniemi, and the Question of Living Archives, Amsterdam University Press, 2017 Ibid N Elkin-Koren and S Gal, “The Chilling Effect of Governance-by-Data on Data Markets,” The University of Chicago Law Review, Vol 86, No 2, Symposium: Personalized Law, 2019 Ibid S Abiteboul Memory: The Digital Shoebox, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 2018 E Røssaak, FileLife: Constant, Kurenniemi, and the Question of Living Archives, Amsterdam University Press, 2017 S Mason, “The Presumption That Computers Are ‘Reliable’,” School of Advanced Study, University of London, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 2017 [20] A Brantly, “The Violence of Hacking: State Violence and Cyberspace,” The Cyber Defense Review (WINTER 2017), Vol 2, No 1, pp 73-92, 2017 [21] S Mason, “The Presumption That Computers Are ‘Reliable’,” School of Advanced Study, University of London, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 2017 DISCLAIMERS: [22] Ibid The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S Government DoD School Policy DoD gives its personnel in its school environments the widest latitude to express their views To ensure a climate of academic freedom and to encourage intellectual expression, students and faculty members of an academy, college, university, or DoD school are not required to submit papers or material that are prepared in response to academic requirements and not intended for release outside the academic institution Information proposed for public release or made available in libraries or databases or on web sites to which the public has access shall be submitted for review  ... continue to expand and morph in myriad ways IV LIVING ARCHIVES As the cyber meta-reality and cyber microbiome continue to grow and deepen, questions concerning the nature of existence within these spheres... grow, and reproduce, thus adding another layer of complexity to their presence within the cyber meta-reality as a portion of the cyber microbiome “[N]ew security products incorporating ML and AI... form” [18] This has further ramifications in the cyber meta-reality and cyber microbiome as all of the data and metadata associated with such archives lives in multiple places and within an indeterminate